


The Snowball Effect

by merlypops



Series: Space Husbands (Paul Stamets/Hugh Culber) [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Developing Relationship, Episode s01e05 Choose Your Pain, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Hopeful Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Love Confessions, M/M, Space Husbands, Spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery, USS Discovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 07:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12405915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlypops/pseuds/merlypops
Summary: "One tends to worry when they're doomed to love a brilliant but reckless maniac who's willing to risk his life for glory."Paul Stamets is a liability but Hugh Culber loves him anyway.





	The Snowball Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I watched the new Star Trek: Discovery episode tonight (spoilers for that obviously) and oh my god I loved it! Also, space husbands.  
> Anyway, I absolutely had to write something for it and this idea wouldn't get out of my head until I sat down to write it so hopefully you enjoy it!  
> (This was really hard to write but I hope it feels like it's in character!)  
> Enjoy <3

Dr. Hugh Culber had adored Paul Stamets from the very first moment he’d laid eyes on him.

Paul had just been appointed the Chief Engineer on the _USS Discovery_ at the time and he’d taken to his new role with unsurprising enthusiasm. Getting to order people about while working on another harebrained-yet-undeniably-fantastic scheme in an effort to achieve glory? What wasn’t to love?

Hugh had watched the scene play out with poorly-suppressed amusement, eyes glittering as he watched Paul draw himself up to his (fairly inconsiderable) height and tear his research partner Straal a new one for making a stupid (and frankly uncharacteristic) mistake that might well have resulted in one of the ship’s nacelles… splintering? Collapsing?

Hugh didn’t know. He was a doctor; not an engineer.

Needless to say, Paul’s lecture on all of the very specific ways Straal had fucked up detailed so many witty little tirades that, before he could stop himself - professionalism be damned - a snort of laughter had escaped from Hugh into the sudden silence.

Paul whipped around in surprise as a blush rose in his cheeks at being interrupted. Hugh hastily rearranged his smile into something slightly more stoic.

“Doctor,” Paul said in that smooth voice Hugh had started to find so endearing. “Was there something you needed?”

Hugh raised the tricorder in his hand apologetically, his dark eyes fixing on the blond man's face as Paul’s neck flushed pink too. Maybe he was more affected than he’d let on by the doctor’s presence… or maybe he was just too hot in his uniform. (Hugh would be willing to help him out of it if that was what Paul wanted. Hugh was pretty sure he would have done _anything_ for Paul in those early days… and damnit, who was he kidding?! Hugh would do anything for him _always_.)

“It’s well past time for your bi-monthly check up,” Hugh said without hesitation, his tone mild but leaving little room for argument. “Need to keep an eye on you unruly bunch after all,” he continued teasingly and Paul’s lips twitched into that tiny smile he only ever wore in moments like this, when Hugh was hounding him to stand still for his tricorder and Straal was watching on with that knowing look in his eyes.

“ _Bi_ -monthly?” the dark-haired astromycologist asked but he was smirking now as he glanced between his research partner and the doctor. “I thought they were only monthly reviews, Dr. Culber. _Surely_ you wouldn’t be bending the rules to spend more time with dear Mr. Stamets here?”

“That’s Lieutenant Stamets to you,” Paul corrected loftily but the blush was undeniable now and Hugh could almost see how the blond man's heartbeat raced as he parted his lips a little, his hands shaking barely noticeably as he reached to smooth the front of his uniform shirt. His blue eyes were deliberately slow as they lingered on Hugh and the doctor swallowed audibly when Paul smoothed his blond hair down needlessly.

"Although I must admit that this seems a waste of resources, doctor. If you wanted time alone, you only needed to ask.”

“Even with all your research?” Hugh asked innocently as he raised the tricorder, letting a soft smile slip across his face when Paul finally seemed content to allow the check up. Rolling his eyes fondly behind them, Straal slipped out of the room.

“I always make time for… new projects,” Paul murmured and it was Hugh’s turn to blush now, although he quirked his eyebrow up all the same.

“You know, I resent that,” he said in a warm tone that directly contradicted his words. “I’m a _human_ , Lieutenant. Not some sort of exciting new fungus.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Paul replied as the tricorder finally let out a chirp as the results appeared on the screen. “I think you could be plenty exciting, dear doctor.”

Hugh’s heart shuddered in his chest when Paul deliberately let his fingers glide down the back of the doctor’s hand. Hugh slipped the tricorder back into its case before tilting his head to the side curiously, his dark eyelashes fluttering when he saw the irrefutable _want_ clouding Paul’s gaze.

“Care to stop by my cabin tonight and find out?” Hugh asked and Paul’s smile took the doctor’s breath away.

“I’m surprised someone as smart as you had to ask.”

*

Hugh began to fall for Paul steadily after that, slow at first and then so fast he could barely stop himself from careening headlong into unknown territory… into falling in **love** with the sarcastic blond man with such beautiful eyes.

Paul called it the ‘snowball effect’ when Hugh finally voiced his feelings late one night. They were both panting heavily as the shower spray finally lessened and Hugh hummed with contentment when Paul’s forehead fell to rest on his broad shoulder, his arms looping loosely around the doctor’s waist.

“Why do you call it the snowball effect?” Hugh murmured sleepily as one hand rubbed soothingly down the blond man’s back. The water cut off overhead and the vents spat out warm air to dry them in the too-cramped cubicle.

“Because that’s what it is,” Paul said in that _way_ he had; the one where he was so convinced that everyone around him should be on the same page as him that he didn’t even think to give them any information. Upon seeing the vaguely perplexed look on his partner’s face, Paul had smiled wryly.

“Because it started out small,” the astromycologist said in a softer voice, one palm rising to cradle Hugh’s stubbled cheek gently. “A touch here, a word there… but it built on itself, don’t you see? It became larger and more serious, and somewhere along the way it became impossible to stop the momentum we’d developed.” Hugh bit his lip worriedly and Paul sighed when he saw the uncertainty there, rubbing the pad of his thumb gently over the abused skin. “I didn’t mean it like that,” the blond man assured him. “I wouldn’t have wanted to stop this for anything but… I don’t think I could have helped it even if I _had_. Don’t you understand? It feels like we’re supposed to be together. I never believed in all of that ridiculous love-at-first-sight soulmate crap before I met you.”

“Am I allowed to say I’m not sorry?” Hugh asked innocently and Paul scoffed, rolling his eyes fondly before he murmured something about finding their clothes from the bench outside.

“I’d be concerned if you didn't,” Paul said dryly. “But I’m getting distracted. I was _talking_ about our relationship snowballing out of control but you stopped me from getting to my most relevant point, dear doctor. What I _meant_ to tell you was that our relationship is what I view as a ‘virtuous circle’.”

Hugh’s brow creased at that. “Because our relationship feels beneficial?” he asked uneasily.

Paul actually had the good grace to look mildly offended.

“ _No_ ,” he said but the sharp disagreement in his tone was watered down by the unusual vulnerability in his tired blue eyes. “Because you make me feel safe. Because this - _us_ \- **_you_** \- well, you make me feel happier and calmer than I ever do, Hugh Culber. Because you are the _only_ person in Starfleet - and possibly this entire godforsaken galaxy - that actually gives me the opportunity to switch off and just be myself for once.”

“You don’t know how much it means to hear you say that,” Hugh whispered and he didn’t realise he was on the brink of crying until he felt how thick his throat had become. He saw the realisation in Paul’s eyes too; watched the blond man’s eyelashes grow spiky with tears as he realised the consequences of always trying to keep Hugh at arm’s length… to keep from growing too attached just in case… of what?

In case he lost him? In case something terrible happened or Hugh decided he didn’t want him anymore or… or…

Hugh didn’t know. Paul didn’t like to talk about his past or his feelings; he was happier focusing on the ‘now’ and usually Hugh could accept that. Sometimes he needed reassurance though, just like tonight. Sometimes he just needed to hear that Paul didn’t want to let him go either.

“I love you, dear doctor,” Paul murmured and, despite the teasing lilt to his tone, the words hit Hugh like a stun gun because it was the first time he’d ever heard them from his partner.

When Hugh drew him into his arms, Paul smelt like their shower gel and something more earthy underneath - like sun-warmed apples or the smell of the fields as the summer slowly baked them. Hugh scattered tiny kisses over Paul’s forehead until the blond man was snickering as he struggled to escape from his lover’s arms.

“I’ll tickle you if you don’t let me go,” Paul warned but he was smiling when Hugh finally released him from his embrace. The doctor felt like a weight he hadn’t even realised he’d been carrying had slipped from his shoulders and the relief he felt rushing through him was undeniable.

“I love you too, you insufferable man,” Hugh said and his heart was so full in his chest. “But I think you already knew that, didn’t you?”

*

Things weren’t perfect after that. Better certainly but still a little fragile and uncertain… still _them_. They still teased and taunted each other; they still snapped and fought over ridiculous things that everyone around them simply rolled their eyes at fondly.

Mostly, though, things were okay -

And then there had been that terrifying night with the tardigrade where everything had gone to shit. Paul’s nose had been broken so badly that it had damaged his frontal lobe and he’d made that stupid barb about not wanting to _feel_ things, and Hugh had been hurt then - so hurt he’d refused to sleep in the same cabin as his partner for almost a week - but even that had been resolved in the end…

And now this.

Now Paul lying motionless on the floor of the spore chamber, eyes stubbornly shut and blood trickling from the puncture wounds where that stupid _brave_ man had injected himself with the Mycelium spores.

The crew had insisted that he’d woken up earlier, laughed with absolute shock when he’d realised his ridiculous plan had worked, but he was unconscious again now, much to Hugh’s terror and chagrin. He wouldn’t believe his partner was okay again until Paul was back in their cabin and making petty comments about being confined to bedrest… until Paul was awake and safe in the doctor’s arms, where Hugh knew beyond doubt that he was safe.

That day passed in a terrifying blur but, that night when - possibly against the odds - the pair of them stood brushing their teeth together side by side, and when Paul seemed content to simply lean against Hugh and share his warmth as he comforted himself with their familiar night-time routine, the doctor realised just how afraid his _partner_ had been too.

When Paul made another of his flippant remarks - presumably intended to show just how little the events had bothered him, and failing miserably - Hugh had finally had enough of it.

"One tends to worry when they're doomed to love a brilliant but reckless maniac who's willing to risk his life for glory," he said which certainly shut the blond man up. Hugh smiled internally as he rinsed his mouth out in the sink. _That_ had hopefully made Paul think about his recklessness.

“Bed?” Paul asked hopefully, after a slight moment of hesitation. “I could sleep for about ten standards, I think.”

“I doubt Lorca would allow you that,” Hugh said. “And besides, neither would I. You know, there are actually a _lot_ of negative health effects that come from oversleeping. Did you know that it can actually lead to the risk of heart disease if you -”

“You're doctoring again,” Paul muttered as he walked away, shaking his head with a smirk on his face. “Damn _doctors_.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Hugh pointed out as he followed his partner deeper into their cabin with a crooked smile on his face. “But I guarantee you won’t be cursing my area of expertise like that next time you or one of your baby technicians needs patching up.”

Paul _certainly_ had something to say about that and, as Hugh threw his head back in laughter, he happened to glance back and thought - however ludicrously - that he could still see Paul’s reflection lingering in front of the bathroom mirror, even as the blond man slumped down into their shared bed behind him which was all kinds of impossible. Hugh was clearly starting to hallucinate after the exhausting day he’d had.

“Come here,” the doctor said uncertainly when he saw that Paul had already huddled up beneath the blankets. “I need you in my arms tonight.”

“Clingy,” the astromycologist commented but he looked satisfied all the same as he sank down against the doctor's chest. “But I suppose I can live with it.”

“That sounds like a very good plan,” Hugh murmured as he brushed a soft kiss over the smaller man’s forehead, losing himself in the comforting familiarity of it. “ **Live**. Don’t do anything reckless to take yourself away from me again.”

“I’ll do my best,” Paul said but he was already drifting towards sleep as Hugh quietly asked the computer to lower the lights. “No promises though. You know how I get when there’s something exciting happening…”

“I do,” Hugh said and he smiled a little despite himself. “Your sheer dumb luck is all part of your charm.”

“That’s why you love me,” Paul mumbled, his eyes shut now although there was a tiny slightly-disbelieving smile touching his lips all the same.

Hugh gazed down at him through the darkness with so much love in his chest that it almost hurt to breathe past.

“It is,” he whispered. “I do. Nothing’s ever going to change that.”

And he meant it.

Always.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Please let me know what you thought <3


End file.
